Maya (Mossad)

Maya was an Israeli Mossad agent during the 1950s and 1960s. She was the occasional lover of senior Mossad officer Dan Peleg, and she helped him with handling Eli Cohen, who had infiltrated the Syrian elite and, eventually, their government. In 1964, she protested against Prime Minister Levi Eshkol and Mossad head Jacob Shimoni's plan to bomb the Syrians' secretive Shallal facility immediately after Cohen reported on its existence, fearing that doing so would compromise Cohen's cover. Instead, she suggested that the leadership allow for Cohen to accept President Amin al-Hafiz's invitation to serve as Deputy Defense Minister, bomb Shallal afterwards, and grant the Syrians a few minor victories to boost Cohen's reputation in Syria. While Shimoni was angered that Maya spoke out of turn, he agreed with her plan, which was enacted; while Shallal was destroyed on 23 January 1965, Cohen was arrested a day later after he was discovered while reporting the success to Mossad.